Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A regional job hub with 1,631 jobs.
Bonners Ferry is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 42nd among Idaho's 58 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools outperform 56% of the state's. Expect to pay for it: homes are expensive, about $460K for a typical one and 6.8 times the county’s $67K median household income. No town in Idaho scores higher than Bonners Ferry on history. Bonners Ferry is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. Among 59 Idaho towns, just 5 have a lower median household income than Bonners Ferry.
Where Bonners Ferry beats most towns.
Boundary County CourthouseWhere Bonners Ferry’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Idaho), ordered by how far Bonners Ferry is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 349 in 1900, 2,520 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1911 and 2 maps from 1965 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bonners Ferry, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Bonners Ferry.
Bonners Ferry draws workers from Moyie Springs and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
1,631 jobs are based in Bonners Ferry, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Bonners Ferry’s working residents works in town. At 17 minutes, Bonners Ferry’s average trip to work is against 20 minutes in Idaho’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in Bonners Ferry.
| Bonners Ferry | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 30% | 20% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 20 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 11% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Boundary County District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Bonners Ferry High School, with 421 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley View Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 398 | B |
| Bonners Ferry High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 421 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within ID on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 69% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Bonners Ferry has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with very little rain. At 84°F, Bonners Ferry’s July high is where Idaho’s towns sit at 89°F and U.S. towns at 85°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 6,642 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bonners Ferry’s, it is healthier than 82%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Bonners Ferry beats the Idaho average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 13% of Bonners Ferry adults binge drink. Only 5 of the 59 Idaho towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Bonners Ferry.
| Bonners Ferry | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Bonners Ferry | ID |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12.7% | 15.5% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.8% | 70.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.9% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Bonners Ferry home is worth about $461,000, up 3.4% in a year, close to the Idaho typical home.
| Bonners Ferry | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,145 a month | $1,109 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.6 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Bonners Ferry’s trail density is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Bonners Ferry | Idaho towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Boundary County Fairgrounds | — | 16 |
| 2. Veterans Memorial Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Bonners Ferry; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Bonners Ferry residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Idaho.
5 places in Bonners Ferry on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Bonners Ferry.
City in Idaho
Bonners Ferry is the largest city in and the county seat of Boundary County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,520 at the 2020 census. The Porthill-Rykerts Border Crossing connects Bonners Ferry with Creston, British Columbia, Canada, on the Kootenay River. The Eastport–Kingsgate Border Crossing connects Bonners Ferry with Yahk, British Columbia, Canada, on the Moyie River.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bonners Ferry grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #42 of 58 in Idaho. It grades B− for health, B for safety and B for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
7 notable people were born here, including Claire Du Brey and Rita La Roy.
